Survivors
by Amme1806
Summary: What if Lily and James were never murdered? What if Snape had managed to convince the Dark Lord that the Longbottoms child was the threat? What kind of world would Harry, and Neville, grow up in? 1st story, so let me know if it sucks...rated T for safety
1. Chapter 1

What if Lily and James had never died? What if Snape had managed to convince the Dark Lord that the Longbottoms' child was the threat? What kind of world would Harry, and Neville, have grown up in?

She looked beautiful. Radiant. Perfect. Remus had never thought he could feel so happy, so lucky, but finally, it felt like everything was perfect. Well, almost everything. If only Alice could have been the one with Neville sitting on her lap, if only Frank could have been arguing over the latest quidditch scores with the rest of the guys....Still, today was not a day to think about that. Today was not a day to grieve for those lost, or dwell on the way things could have been without the war. Today was meant to be the happiest, scratch that, the second happiest day of his life. Because as much as he loved Sophie - and he did love her, more than he ever thought possible - nothing would beat the day his daughter was born. The day that all the Marauders finally had a child to pass on their legacy too. Although Remus had to admit that he was secretly hoping that Seren got into a lot less trouble than he always seemed to find himself in.

And there she was. His little girl, walking down the aisle, basket of petals resting in the crook of her arm, angelic curls framing her smiling face. Remus felt a pang of grief looking into those stunning blue eyes - they looked just like her mothers. He could still remember perfectly the last time he saw those piercing blue eyes, how the light in them that always seemed to shine so brightly had flickered, and gone out. He could still remember that haunting sound - so savage, so animal that pierced the air around him. Still remember how the sheer, pure raw emotion in that sound had made the hairs on the back of his neck stand up. The shock he had felt when Sirius had told him that that sound had emanated from his mouth, the notion that he had managed to verbalise, however basic the sound, some of the pain he felt at that moment, and above all the knowledge that that sound, the haunting, heartbreaking grief of it would never express even the smallest fraction of what he had felt, for so long. What, in a way, he would feel forever. But it was a different kind of grief now, it hadn't numbed or diminished, simply shifted, and changed. Ever present but eternally altered. By his daughter, and by the women in white, walking towards him, soon to be his wife.

The first time he met Sophie he screamed at her until his voice was hoarse, until his throat burnt with a pain so intense that it overtook all the hate he felt for her. There was no reason for this hate, no reason for the screaming, no reason for the blame that he placed on her, other than a need in him for Melody's death to have not been his fault. For him not to have to blame himself anymore. And, most of all, for it to have been avoidable. For someone to have been able to save her from them. For the Death Eaters not to have won, to never have won, especailly when it came to him, and his little girl. So he blamed Sophie, because she was there, because she hadn't lost the person she planned to spend her life with, because she let him, and, most importantly, because she was the one who brought his child back to him.


	2. Chapter 2

"Surely you mean Sirius?"

"No, Minerva", Dumbledore replied patiently, a faint trace of a smile at the corner of his lips. "I was not mistaken. Remus Lupin. And that charming girlfriend of his, Miss Hopkins."

"But...but.....Remus??" spluttered a shocked Minerva McGonagall. "Of all of those boys, I would have bet all the Galleons in my Gringotts account on Black being the one to...to...."

"Impregnate a girl", finished Dumbledore, chuckling softly at the look of shock and embarrassment this left on Minerva's face. "Yes, I must say I agree with you there. Alas, it is a cliché, but I guess this time it holds true."

"What does?"

"That it is the quiet ones we must watch", sighed Dumbledore. His lined face seemed suddenly aged, and the strain of the past seventy two hours showed clearly in the heavy bags around his eyes. The scandal that this news had been turned into, helped along nicely by the Daily Prophet, had been almost farcical. A pregnant student at Hogwarts was outrageous enough to some, but that the conception had also occurred with the grounds seemed, to some, to be a crime worthy of Azkaban. People were looking for someone to pin the blame on, and of course, it was Dumbledore's blood for which they were baying.

In addition to trying to calm the outraged hordes of witches and wizards who were screaming for his resignation, Dumbledore was also attempting a feat yet to be mastered by any wizard in history - to stop Rita Skeeter from unearthing any secrets on Remus or Melody. Most importantly, the secret behind Remus' sickly manner and monthly disappearances.

"Those two..." Minerva began, pulling Dumbledore away from thoughts of that afternoons meeting with the Minister, which he did not think he could deem successful.

"...are going to have a hard few years ahead of them without lectures from you", finished Dumbledore, who knew, from experience, that if you was not quick enough to stop Minerva before her rant began, then you would simply have to wait until it ended, which had been known to be hours later.

"So what do we do?" asked Minerva, who was, for once, at a loss as to how to deal with her wayward Gryffindors.

"We advise if asked, and we support when necessary, but we must do what is best for all three of them..."

"Which is?" asked Minerva, unsure of where this was heading.

"Throw them in the water and hope that, if they cannot swim, they can at least tread water" answered Dumbledore simply.

Although she did not argue with the headmasters words, she couldn't help but wonder how tired these poor children's legs would get before Dumbledore would throw them a rope, or if he would just let them drown.


	3. Chapter 3

"So where's the baby mama?"

Remus spun around so quickly he made himself dizzy. _Only Sirius_, he thought furiously, _only Sirius bloody Black would think that surrounded by the entire student population of Hogwarts, on platform 9 ¾, is the perfect place to announce Melody's pregnancy. _

"Subtlety never was his strong point", came a voice from Remus' right. "Or timing…or thinking before he speaks…actually, what is his strong point?"

"Surrounding himself with people that will put up with him?" suggested Remus, a small smile adorning his face, diminishing the lines and black circles around his young eyes. "How've you been Mads?" he asked the tall, blonde girl before him.

"Same old, you know", she shrugged, scrunching her face into a clearly discernable 'lets change the subject' look, which, after six years, Remus knew all too well. "Nothing as exciting as you, by the sounds of things!" she joked, elbowing Remus playfully in the ribs.

"I'm guessing this brainless git told you about Melody…before the big announcement a moment ago, I mean!" Remus said, pointedly aiming the last part at Sirius, who was now standing in front of the duo, a huge grin on his face.

"Actually, Melody told her, so ha! You can't blame me…I kept your secret, even from my amazing girlfriend" he announced proudly, wrapping his arms around Madison's waist.

"Well Pads, I would be grateful…if you hadn't just shouted across the platform about it!"

"Oh…shit!" Sirius' smile slid from his face, to be replaced with a look of guilt. "Mate, I am so sorry, I just forget that people can hear me sometimes…."

"…which is why he makes us suffer through him singing in the bloody shower" came the voice of James Potter, strolling towards them, completely oblivious to the adoring gazes following him across the platform.

He stopped at the looks on his friends' faces - Sirius, guilty and pleading; Remus, attempting stern, but achieving exasperated acceptance; Madison, amused and content. "What'd you do this time Pads?" James asked, shaking his head at his well meaning, but ultimately big-mouthed friend.

"Weee-eelll…" began Sirius, his look of guilt slowly being taken over by a look of relish at the thought of delivering a fresh batch of gossip.

"…we'll fill you in later", Madison interrupted, as she spotted her best friend Melody, who was now, thanks to Sirius, attracting more than her usual share of looks and whispered comments from fellow students. Ever the stoic, Melody simply strolled along the platform calmly, a carefully composed look on her face.

James turned his head from Melody to his friends, and back again. "Seriously, what have I missed?" he asked, a little too loudly.

"You mean the great James Potter is the last to hear?" came a sniggering response from behind him. James spun round at the sound of Snape's sneering voice, an undisguised look of loathing clearly evident on both their faces.

"Hear what, Snivellus?" James replied coolly.

"That bookworm Lupin over here is going to be a _daddy_…and thanks to her stupidity, your sister has decided to play the role of Mother!" Snape announced, a look of utter glee on his face, at the sight of James' rage.


End file.
